Let us introduce you to the M2030 Community! A free, online space that facilitates collaboration across industries to solve common resource efficiency challenges –a chance for practitioners to crowdsource answers to their sustainability questions from their peers. You could call us a lean, green, SDG-busting team... Or not.

Over the last 12 months, the Community has expanded to host 1200 members from more than 700 companies, and is now supported by 100 partners - that's a whole lot of industry experience and in-depth knowledge in one place.

So, you know what the Community is – but what can it actually do?

At the heart of the M2030 Community lies our belief that the combined knowledge of Community members can generate practical solutions that companies would struggle to reach on their own - but don’t just take our word for it. Let’s take a look at the Community in action…

The power of the crowd

Earlier this year, one of our Community members asked whether any other companies had experienced the financial benefits of the circular economy.

Let's take a look at some of the great responses we've received so far...

“In our study, 96% of respondents believe that the circular economy is important for their company’s future success, and 51% of respondents state that circular economy activities add to profits”

– The New Big Circle

“Given the higher costs often associated with circular activities compared to traditional activities, the business case for circularity is usually strongly linked to acquiring new customers, strengthening existing customer relationships (increasing volumes, cross-selling, long-term contracts, etc.) or opening new markets.”

– The New Big Circle

A little digging into the resources flagged by Brendan led to some useful information, particularly about M2030 members AkzoNobel and Philips, which can help answer this question at a micro/company level.

In the 'New Big Circle' report, AkzoNobel sheds light on both their and Philips' use of circular principles:

“At AkzoNobel, we use circular principles to achieve radical resource efficiency and to design out negative externalities. This approach offers clear benefits for the environment, for our customers and for ourselves.””

– Thierry Vanlancker - CEO, AkzoNobel

“Philips has developed training materials and tools to educate business leaders on design for reuse, recycling and refurbishment. This spurs them to generate their own ideas for sustainable products and services.”

– Martijn van Loon - RD&I Operations Manager, AkzoNobel

You can add your voice to the conversation with M2030 members by joining the Community free of charge today!

Following on from Brendan's suggested resources from WBCSD, comments from Closed Loop Solutions' Peter Goodwin added further depth to the discussion:

“In our experience, the use of recycled content should not result in an increase in cost vs. virgin material. There is a case to say that it should be sold at a premium given the wider benefits that this solution based approach offers - however, in reality it tends to be sold cheaper than the virgin equivalent to stimulate interest in the adoption of recycled content.”

– Peter Goodwin - Closed Loop Solutions

Next up was M2030 partner Bioregional, who provided insight into plastics...

“Plastic: recycled plastics tend to be cheaper than new plastic, but this depends on the type and quality, as some plastics are far more easily recyclable than others, and some of them end up as low-grade plastics afterwards because of all the additives etc."”

– Jonny Wilkinson - Bioregional

Jonny also provided insight into aluminium, using the example of Novelis' work with M2030 member Jaguar Land Rover, which has realised more than $1m in savings to-date and resulted in an 80% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions compared to standard road transport.

“Energy costs drop about 2-3% for every 10% cullet used in the manufacturing process.”

– Glass Packaging Institute

The opportunities provided by recycling for the reduction of not only energy and water use but also carbon dioxide emissions are also explored in a report produced by one of M2030's most recent partners, the US Department of Energy.

...and that’s only the beginning of the conversation.

Tapping into the knowledge base contained within the M2030 Community could help your company to overcome its sustainability challenges faster, saving you not only resources but also time and money.

Want to get involved and tell us about your experience of implementing the circular economy? Simply add your comment to this thread – we’d love to hear from you!

Keen to transform the resource efficiency of your manufacturing operations and deliver higher performance across your sites? Get in touch today to book your free demo of our M2030 bee platform.

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